A left-handed big man who can grab a rebound, fire a hit-ahead pass and run a half-court set from the elbow is still a rare sight in the NBA. That mix is what has made Domantas Sabonis such a distinctive player over the course of his career.
Yes, he is the son of Arvydas Sabonis, and that connection followed him from the start. But the longer his own career has gone on, the less that has felt like the headline. The real story is how a teenager shaped by Spanish club basketball, polished at Gonzaga and tested in the NBA turned himself into one of the league’s most productive centers.
Early life: Portland roots, Spanish upbringing
Domantas Sabonis was born on May 3, 1996, in Portland, Oregon. He holds Lithuanian and American citizenship, and basketball was part of daily life from the beginning. His father, Arvydas, is a Hall of Fame center. His mother, Ingrida Mikelionyte, was crowned Miss Lithuania in 1988.
When the family moved to Malaga, Spain, in the mid-2000s, Sabonis was still a child. That change mattered. Instead of growing up only around the NBA name attached to his family, he came through a European basketball environment where fundamentals, physical play and decision-making were emphasized early.
He joined the Unicaja Malaga system and developed in a setting where young players had to earn every minute. The left hand stood out, of course, but so did the feel for the game. Even before he became known as a rebounder and passer in the NBA, those instincts were already there.
Unicaja Malaga: learning against grown men
Before Gonzaga and before the draft, Sabonis was playing real minutes in Spain. He spent time with Unicaja Malaga and also played on loan with Clinicas Rincon during the 2012-13 season.
He made his ACB debut for Unicaja at 17 years, 5 months and 10 days old, becoming the youngest player to debut for the club in that competition. In the 2013-14 season, he appeared in 35 games for Unicaja and averaged 2.7 points and 2.2 rebounds.
Those are small numbers on paper, but they make more sense in context. He was a teenager in one of Europe’s strongest leagues, facing older and stronger professionals. The value of that stretch was not in gaudy stats. It was in learning how to hold position, read the floor and play through contact.
Gonzaga gave him a bigger stage
Sabonis arrived at Gonzaga in 2014 and stayed for two seasons. That was the point where he became widely known in the United States as more than Arvydas Sabonis’ son.
He made an immediate impact. As a freshman, he earned Second-team All-WCC honors and a place on the WCC All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore, he moved up to First-team All-WCC, was named an AP Honorable Mention All-American and earned Second-team Academic All-American recognition.
His college game looked familiar to anyone who had watched him in Europe, only now it was sharper and more visible. He rebounded in traffic, finished through contact and showed the passing touch that would become a major part of his identity as a pro.
Gonzaga later retired his No. 11 jersey, a notable honor for a player who spent only two seasons there.
Draft night and a quick stop in Oklahoma City
In the 2016 NBA Draft, Sabonis was selected with the 11th overall pick by the Orlando Magic. He did not stay there. On draft night, his rights were sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the deal that brought Serge Ibaka to Orlando.
Sabonis signed his rookie contract with Oklahoma City on August 12, 2016. His first NBA season was not glamorous, but it was useful. He played 81 games, started 66 of them and averaged 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds.
The Thunder used him in a role that did not fully match the game he would later show in Indiana and Sacramento. Even so, that season gave him a first look at NBA pace, spacing and physicality. It also set up the trade that changed his career.
Indiana: where he became an All-Star
In July 2017, Oklahoma City traded Sabonis and Victor Oladipo to the Indiana Pacers for Paul George. That move gave Sabonis a clearer runway, and Indiana is where he grew from a promising young frontcourt player into an All-Star.
His first seasons with the Pacers showed steady progress. He became one of the league’s most dependable interior scorers, a strong rebounder and a clever passer out of the post and on dribble handoffs. By the time he signed a four-year, $74.9 million extension in October 2019, Indiana had made clear how important he was to the franchise.
The honors followed. Sabonis was selected to the NBA All-Star team in 2020 and again in 2021. During those years, his style became unmistakable. He was not a traditional back-to-the-basket center and not simply a finisher, either. Indiana could run offense through him. He could screen, pivot, hit cutters and keep possessions alive on the glass.
That blend of rebounding, touch and playmaking made him one of the most unusual big men in the league.
Sacramento unlocked the full version of his game
The next major turn came in February 2022, when the Pacers traded Sabonis, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and a 2023 second-round pick to the Sacramento Kings for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson.
In Sacramento, his game became central rather than complementary. Under coach Mike Brown, the Kings built large parts of their offense around his decision-making. He worked as a handoff hub, a screener, a rebounder and a passer who could trigger actions from the top of the floor or the elbows.
In the 2022-23 season, he averaged 19.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. He led the NBA with 77 double-doubles, made the All-Star team and earned All-NBA Third Team honors. Sacramento also ended its long playoff drought that season, with Sabonis at the center of the turnaround.
He followed that with another huge year in 2023-24: 19.4 points, 13.7 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game while leading the league in rebounds. He was again named to the All-NBA Third Team. In July 2023, he agreed to a renegotiation-and-extension with the Kings worth roughly $217 million over five years.
One detail in the original profile needed correcting: Sabonis did not switch to No. 11 in Sacramento during the 2024-25 season. He had already been wearing No. 10 with the Kings. Before the 2023-24 season, he changed to No. 11 with permission from the family of Bob Davies, whose number had long been associated with the franchise. The switch was made in part to honor his father.
By late October 2024, Sabonis had reached 59 career triple-doubles, tying Larry Bird for 10th on the NBA’s all-time list at that moment. It was another marker of how unusual his production had become for a center.
Lithuania has always been part of the story
Even though he was born in Portland and developed in Spain, Sabonis has long been a significant player for Lithuania.
He represented the country at youth level in the 2012 FIBA U16 European Championship, the 2013 and 2014 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championships, and the 2015 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. At that U20 tournament, he set a single-game event record with 28 rebounds.
He made his senior national team debut on July 29, 2015, in a game against Australia. He then played at EuroBasket 2015, where Lithuania won silver, and later represented the national team at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
His international résumé also includes later qualifying competition, and he has repeatedly been recognized at home as one of the country’s top players. Sabonis has won the Lithuanian Basketball Player of the Year award multiple times, including in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2024.
Why his game works
The easiest way to describe Sabonis is to start with the rebounds and work outward. He is one of the NBA’s best on the glass, and that part of his game gives his teams a steady floor every night.
But rebounding alone does not explain him. What separates him is the way he connects possessions. He catches at the elbow and sees the next pass. He flips handoffs into scoring chances. He can score inside, but he does not need to dominate the ball to control a game.
That is why the triple-doubles matter. They are not empty milestones. They reflect the structure of his game: rebound, initiate, create, repeat.
Off the court: family, business and public details
Away from basketball, Sabonis’ family life draws plenty of attention. He married Shashana Rosen on August 15, 2021, in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France. The couple have children together, though family details should be handled carefully and only as far as they have been shared publicly.
Some reports and social-media discussions about the family’s religious life have circulated online. Those should remain labeled as unconfirmed personal details unless directly and publicly confirmed by the family. According to comments attributed to his wife in 2023 and to social media posts cited by outlets, Sabonis was reportedly exploring conversion to Judaism, and the family reportedly observed Shabbat and kept kosher. Those are private matters and should not be stated more strongly than the public sourcing allows.
There is also a business side to his off-court profile. In late 2024, Sabonis and his wife publicly launched a wine brand called Ones by Sabonis.
His endorsement portfolio has included major brands, though sponsorship arrangements can change over time and are often reported differently by source. The broad point is clear enough: by the time he became a central figure in Sacramento, he had also become a marketable NBA name.
One playoff moment also followed him off the stat sheet and into wider NBA conversation. During the 2023 first-round series against Golden State, Draymond Green stepped on Sabonis’ chest after Sabonis grabbed Green’s leg during a scramble. Sabonis was assessed a technical foul on the play, while Green was ejected and later suspended for one game.
As for net worth figures, those vary widely depending on the outlet and the method used. Public contract data is firmer ground than celebrity estimates. His NBA earnings are substantial and well documented through his signed deals, but exact “net worth” totals are best treated cautiously.
FAQ
How tall is Domantas Sabonis?
He is 6-foot-10, or 2.08 meters.
Where was Domantas Sabonis born?
He was born in Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
What nationality is Domantas Sabonis?
He holds Lithuanian and American citizenship.
Who is Domantas Sabonis’ father?
His father is Arvydas Sabonis, the Hall of Fame former center.
What number does Domantas Sabonis wear?
He wears No. 11 for the Sacramento Kings.
Has Domantas Sabonis played for Lithuania?
Yes. He debuted for Lithuania’s senior national team in 2015 and has represented the country in major international competition.
